Hay in the barn

[Cloverbell]

You may or may not have heard about the drought situation in the south here. We had a horrible summer of no rain and record breaking heat but one of the big factors to an almost total wipeout of hay last year was a record-breaking hard freeze in April (Easter morning, brrrr for egg hunting) that knocked back the spring cutting and more. So, a double whammy that put the hay shortage into crisis mode by now. Many, many farmers have sold much of their stock and hay prices are going through the roof. Today's Sunday paper has lots of hay for sale from out of state so the price of fuel (thank EXXON) has taken it up even higher.

I found a new Tennessee farms Yahoo board (don't ask me how I stumbled upon it) and threw a call out there for hay. Luckily an angel replied and guided me to a farmer 10 miles away who had 300 square bales left in his barn (from 3000). I am so happy to have kept the sale in state and the hay is good, dry and safely in MY barn now.

Long story short....these message boards really are great and I have made so many wonderful contacts because of them. Thank you for listening.

Linda

[marion]

Hi Linda, What a good feeling to have hay in the barn. I'm glad you found some. It's even better when you can watch the cows tuck into it with obvious enjoyment, instead of the sigh and the look that says, harumph this stuff again ;D That happened to me one year when it was all I could get my hands on..marion

[legendrockranch]

Hi Linda,

I've read about the drought there, it brought back memories of the tough times we had two years ago. What a heartbreak for the farm families.

Last year we had record rainfall, unusual for Texas. Much of the hay was lost rotting in the fields. Thank goodness for the last part of the haying season, lots of hay and prices were dropping.

I know shipments were sent from here to states that needed it.
As you mentioned though the price of fuel makes it extremely pricey.

Will the 300 bales you bought, take you through until your next cutting? I'll be thinking of ya.

Barb

[anthony]

We have been having problems getting protein in this winter for cows.. It isn't solved yet but an ethanol plant called me on Thursday offering my distillers grain at 50% what it had been costing me.. I think they are coming tomorrow with 280 tons.. That should be enough to get me to spring and with how much snow we have had this year we should have a good spring.. Been wet and cold this winter.. Dropped down to -11 the other night with 50 mph winds.. Folks pipes were freezing in the walls, my water pump blew on my tractor and the batteries on the beast finally gave up for good.. Good times.. My wood burning stove that can often make the room it is in close to 100 degrees couldn't get the room to crack over 70.. Looking for an insualtor now..

glad to hear you found some hay Linda.. Hope this spring brings you some good moisture..

[anthony]

Yes.. You can feed to much and you have to feed a mineral designed to be fed with it. It can really throw your Phosphorous Calcium ratio out of whack. And yes, the WET can spoil if kept to long. We will be tarping and sealing it and it should be okay till May 1st but april has me a bit concerned for sure. The dry stuff, which you can probably get easier, will last a lot longer but it won't solve your hay woes but it will allow you to feed some real garbage feed (Straw, stalks, marsh hay) and still get the cows all the energy, protein and stuff they need.

[copperhead]

It's an awfull feeling, not knowing if you'll have the hay or not. We were in the same boat as Barb last year, after 4 years of drought, we had so much rain, that we couldn't get into the fields to cut. A lot of people took a chance and cut the grass and wound up letting it rot in the field. When we finally got to cut it, we got a bunch, thank the good Lord !!!. Now I'm starting to worry that we'll be dry again this year, we're short on our winter rain. Man, thats what I love about farming, it's always feast or famine, makes me wonder why we love it so much. I really can't imagine doing anything else, though.
Here's hoping you all have good rain and lots of sun shine this year...........P.J.

[legendrockranch]

I am hearing the same thing, another hot dry year.......
The last 2 days have been in the high 70's, at this rate one could only guess what the availability and price of hay will be.

Barb

[Honeycreek Dexters]

TO ALL: Try looking on the internet hay exchange lots of hay on there and you can find closest to home. it is listed by state but try states close to yours and you may find it for less and worth the trip. Good luck.
HCD

[Cloverbell]

Barb, I think this hay will do. The pastures are actually greening up a bit even now. I still have a few round roles and cutting the heard down by 1/4th helped. If we get another weird spring I don't know what I'll do! We've had plenty of good rain - not too much, just right....so far....

Have some neighboring hay ground to cut from this year - phew!